Should you get the Olympus Pen E-PL7?

Unless you have been going around with your eyes closed, you have more than likely seen lots of bloggers using an Olympus Pen camera. The most recent of these is the E-PL7. My primary camera is my DSLR Pentax K5, which I have had for several years as I worked as a nightclub photographer, however I also had a point and shoot, which was the Fujifilm XF1, which was ok – but I wanted something a bit better!

I knew I wanted a Compact System Camera as I wanted the option of multiple lenses, which you don’t get with a point and shoot, but in a more portable format than my full size DSLR. So the search started! I’m always slightly sceptical when I hear a lot of hype about an item, however after speaking to a lot of people, it seemed that the Olympus Pen E-PL was in fact as good as the hype said.

So, when Black Friday came around, and I saw it on offer for £299 in Jessops with the 14-42mm kit lens, I decided to take the plunge and bought it!

So what do I think?I LOVE IT!!!!!

Seriously, this is probably one of the best investments I have made. I use it on pretty much a daily basis, most of the photographs that have been on my blog over the last month have been taken on it – and seeing as nobody has mentioned a reduction in quality I am assuming you are happy with them!

I wanted to wait for a month or so of using this camera before posting a review, to make sure I had used every feature and I think I have just about done that now. So I’ll give you a list of what I consider the strengths and weaknesses!

Strengths

Portability – this is a fantastic quality camera for the body size, the only thing I wish is that I bought a pancake lens instead of getting the kit one, but I can do that in the future!

Lens quality – despite wishing for the portability of the pancake lens, I can’t knock the 14-42mm kit lens, the aperture is F3.5-5.6 which is about what you get as a standard kit lens on an DSLR

Wifi – I definitely didn’t appreciate how much I would use this feature, but I think it’s fab. I have been trying to improve the quality of my Instagram images, and this is a game changer

Remote viewer – also a Wifi feature, if you are taking a group shot it is brilliant

Flip out screen – I’m gunna say it. Selfies. We can try and pretend this isn’t important, but if you love makeup and have spent an hour perfecting a smokey eye, you want some decent photographs of it!

Battery life – considering this uses Live View all the time, the battery life is fantastic! I lose my charger between charges it lasts that long!

Build Quality – it feel like a sturdy camera when you hold it, even though it is small

Weaknesses

Low light conditions – I took a few evening photographs, and I have to say the sensor was nowhere near as good as my DSLR

Flashgun – It is good that you get a mini flash gun with the camera, and it is better than a built in flash, but it annoys me that if you want to get a proper flashgun the choice is incredibly limited.

Menu system – not going to lie, it’s not the easiest to work your way around, but after using it for a while I think I know where to go for most features

Video – it isn’t the best, but to be honest I haven’t used it that much, so it may be that I’m just not getting the best out of it yet

So what do you think? If you’re thinking about upgrading your point and shoot, I definitely recommend this camera! If you have one already please leave me some tips in the comments section, or if there are any accessories or amazing lenses that you think I need let me know!

I really recommend it – from using it for a further month, I would say it's only big weakness is reactions to low light conditions – the sensor is small, also the autofocus can be a bit hit and miss unless you are careful! x